POPE FINALLY STEP DOWN

As Pope Benedict XVI finally
bows out, in the next few
hours, one of the cardinals
that would elect the new
Pope of the Roman Catholic Church and Head
of the Abuja Ecclesiastical
Province of the Church, His
Eminence John Cardinal
Onaiyekan, has declared
that the election of a new Pope would be strictly
based on the canon laws
and the will of God and
devoid of any other
consideration. Cardinal Onaiyekan stated
this in a sermon at a
Thanksgiving Mass and
Reception organised for
him by his alma mater and
Old Boys of Mount St. Michael’s Secondary
School, Aliade in Benue
State. Taking his reading from
the book of Matthew
16:13-19 he said “We
(Cardinals) will follow laid
down canon laws when we
go to the conclave to elect a new Pope for the
church”. “Cardinals will be directed
by the will of God in the
election process so that at
the end of the day,
whoever emerges will be
God’s chosen”. The cleric regretted that
so many persons were
reading meanings into why
the Catholic pontiff
resigned warning that the
matter shouldn’t be over flogged “because nobody
persuaded the Pope to
resign and nobody would
have forced him to stay”. He noted that despite the
unexpected resignation of
Pope Benedict Benedict
XV1, “the Church is
standing firm and matching
on”. Earlier in a courtesy call on
Governor Gabriel Suswam,
Cardinal Onaiyekan
had lauded the state
government for ensuring a
cordial relationship with the church. In his response, Governor
Gabriel Suswam urged
parents to bring up their
children in the fear of God
so that Nigeria could
produce more Cardinals in the near future.